Adoption: White Night
by Professor Image
Summary: Up for Adoption.


For a variety of reasons I now find myself at an impasse. I feel as if I've come as far as my meager writing skills is capable, and loathe to continue when I don't feel I can personally give a story one hundred percent, I've decided to leave the fates of my many works of fiction to other, more capable authors.

Anyone and everyone are allowed to adopt my stories. There are no restrictions, no limitations. Write a continuation, if it so pleases you, or a rewrite, or even completely desiccate the story if you wish. It doesn't matter to me. If you think you can do better, just prove it. Write.

Ta.

Professor Image.

Title: **White Night**  
Category: Books » Twilight  
Author: Professor Image  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Romance/Drama  
Published: 08-22-13, Updated: 08-24-13  
Chapters: 3, Words: 19,517

**Chapter 1: Preface**

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Twilight Saga. All respective materials are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I have written this story with only entertainment purposes in mind, and have thus made no monetary gain off of this story.

Summary: I had no idea that coming back here, back to Forks, would lead me into this situation... but can a vampire and a shape-shifting wolf really find love? Jacob seems to think so, but then again, that could just be the imprinting talking...

Enjoy:

White Night

Preface

Our quiet jubilations was interrupted by two snarls, a series of sudden snapping noises, and a loud, pain filled howl.

My head jerked up of its own accord, dread senselessly filling the place where my still heart lay. Visions circled around in my head, briefly giving a glimpse of myself in the future – a future that I hadn't seen in months. My eyes looked to the sight that I feared to see, and yet couldn't look away from, taking in the two struggling figures.

"Jacob, no!" my voice ripped from my throat without conscious thought. The howls of the pack followed my wail.

And I suddenly knew why I could now see my own future, when it had been so blank before – Jacob was going to die.

I screamed.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

First up: I am NOT a Twilight fan. But I did read the series, from Twilight, to the Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and even the incomplete draft of "Midnight Sun."

If you don't know me – well, that's fine. The only thing that you really need to know is that I'm a bit obsessive about writing fanfictions. I won't get into the why's and whereof's that brought me to writing a Twilight Saga fanfiction, because it's pointless.

I may hate the Twilight series, but there's a few characters that I absolutely love. My top three are: 1)Jacob, 2)Leah, 3)Alice.

I recently got started into reading the Twilight fanfictions on this sight, which made me a lover of the Jacob/Leah and Jacob/Alice pairings, and a firm hater of Jacob/Renesmee and Jacob/Bella. But that's a given. I hate canon pairings of any series, with a passion.

So I decided to give a whack at it, and this is what I came up with it.

So, please enjoy, and leave a review with your thoughts...

Ta.

- Professor Image.

**Chapter 2: Visions**

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Twilight Saga. All respective materials are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I have written this story with only entertainment purposes in mind, and have thus made no monetary gain off of this story.

Summary: I had no idea that coming back here, back to Forks, would lead me into this situation... but can a vampire and a shape-shifting wolf really find love? Jacob seems to think so, but then again, that could just be the imprinting talking...

Enjoy:

White Night

01: Visions

I had an explanation for my rush to leave the house when the vision hit.

In the vision, I was standing in a shadowy room, the scene murky with confusion. My vision self was speaking quietly to a gray, shapeless figure, though I couldn't understand the words being spoken. And then the same figure disappeared off the scene before returning with another gray, shapeless blob and my future self looked to the new intruder, which was when the vision ended with a sudden explosion of colors and sounds, looping through thousands of visions in a single instant. I was incapable of translating the visions, though a sense of unease unsettled me.

"What is it, Alice?" Rosalie question, stepping towards me with a frown on her face. The rest of the family except Carlisle and Esme was watching me, carefully, Jasper especially so. I could feel his distaste at my course thrumming through him. Obviously we would be having words after all this.

"Bella's gone," my voice was trembling, as the realization of this coupled with my unease settled over me, and my emotions overwhelmed my nature. I blinked, almost wishing that I could cry, then locked eyes with Rosalie, "I saw her jump."

"Jump?" Rosalie's features were darkening with her anger; she had never liked Bella in the first place, so the first mention of Bella committing suicide was of course going to infuriate her, "What are you talking about?"

"Look," I pulled away from her clutching fingertips, turning back to her now. "I don't have time to explain... I need... I need to go pay my respects for Bella and help her father now...he'll have no one, now, you see." Rosalie's lips were pulling back over her teeth, so I said, "I'll be back as soon as I can...I just have to make sure," this time Rosalie didn't stop me, and I made it to my car without any more interruptions. The brightly colored car started with a roar, and I was soon squealing out of Tanya's home and bursting down the road in a show of speed and grace.

On the road, I tried to focus my thoughts, but everything in my head was suddenly rushing in a shapeless mass of colors and noise. Thousands and thousands of visions burned into my eyes, making me ache in a way that I had never remembered. If I was human, I'd probably would have died from this new headache, but my nature wouldn't allow such a thing. I tried rolling down the window, feeling the breeze in my hair and on my face, but that brought no relief, for my body was ice cold. This was the first time in my memory that I remembered hating my vampiric nature.

My foot was jammed against the gas pedal, my body too tense to slow down. The loping highway was lost to my eyes, my body taking over where my mind couldn't. Continuously, my thoughts circled around my erratic visions, Bella's suicide, and the sudden emptiness and trepidation that I could feel in the void where my visions usually dwelt.

Images of Bella's face, relaxed and ashen paled like the dead assaulted me, along with brief glimpses of Edward standing before the Volturi in Italy, and my Jasper's grieving face.

What was going on? What was happening to me?

Once more, the shadowy, misshapen vision returned. I still couldn't see who the other people in my vision were, but I could suddenly make out the kitchen that my future self was standing on. It was Charlie Swan's kitchen.

So I did make it to Forks, then? That was somehow comforting, in the confusing tide of thoughts that drew my attention. But the empty, bleak feeling was back – stronger then ever. I understood this anxiety, from some, long forgotten memory. Which was how I knew it was one of my human memories... I was afraid.

But I couldn't make sense of it. Nothing at all. I think I was blinking in an out of conscious and subconscious thought, unable to truly fall unconscious, but unable to retain control of my thoughts enough to remain conscious. My nature prevented me from falling asleep, at all, but that didn't stop my mind from drawing back from the real world.

I was eventually left with a few hours with nothing to do, once I made it to my last minute plane to Seattle. I tried not to concentrate on anything, but that got harder to do the closer we got to Washington. After that, I found Carlisle's Mercedes S55 AMG in the parking garage we had left most of our cars from Forks in, and was speeding my way to Forks.

Before I knew it I was in Forks. It was dark out, and I had parked Carlisle's car outside Bella's house.

The street was dark, and chillingly quiet. Somewhere in the distance I could hear a howl that made all my instincts straighten and hiss in challenge. The trepidation was mounting, becoming all consuming. What was I going to do?

_You're going to die..._

I swallowed my fear and opened the driver's door, stepping out into the drive. The air here was a little warm for the season, which meant I felt a bit too hot, now. I shut the door, locked it, and let myself in the house.

Once more, I was engulfed in Bella's too sweet scent, too fresh for her suicide to have been anything but a few hours old. I experimentally sniffed at the air, following the girl's fragrant scent, while my mind tried to focus on this new mystery when I had several million pulsing in the back of my skull.

Stepping into Bella's room, I had to put a hand to my face to steady myself. A wave of hunger had mixed with my headache, but it wasn't the vampiric hunger. It something more terrible and more profound then simple thirst.

Arousal.

Brought upon by a new scent, a scent that was odd and slightly offending, but one that I reacted to in a way that I couldn't fathom.

It was a musk, masculine, primal, with a hint of mango. Even the brief echo of it made me ache in a way that even Jasper couldn't begin to bring out in me. And that was the problem.

Jasper and I had been in love for so long, as far back as my very first memory, that I didn't even know how to admire another man, let alone be aroused by them. In fact, my very first memory was falling in love with a vision of Jasper; a vision of us, together, in the future. His face had filled my entire world...and yet...

I closed my eyes and held my breath, refusing to even think these thoughts.

Thunder rumbled overhead, not at all surprising since this _was_ Forks, but then it tapered off and a light drizzle began outside Bella's window. When I opened my eyes I looked into the yard, forlorn in a way that I couldn't even begin to understand. After all, what was I supposed to do, now?

I circled the room several times, picking through Bella's things and taking cautious sniffs out of the room. The faded, masculine scent was still there, and it still gave me the odd, conflicting feelings – as if it called to my female side and affronted my vampire side at the same time. The scent was concentrated around Bella's window, but there was a second large concentration on Bella's bed. I took a big whiff around the foot of the bed, gagging when something inside me shifted in disgust and venom began pooling in my throat. But underneath that all, I could suddenly feel a charge inside me as if something that remained of the girl that I had been before I had been turned sighed in want at the scent.

I hurried over to Bella's window and threw it open, just in time to spot a truck, a familiar rust colored truck, come drifting down the street, with two silhouettes in riding in the cab. I squinted, but the headlights were too bright for me to see against.

Then they were at the curb in the driveway, parking a distance from Carlisle's car – and since Bella wasn't rushing to see who had come for her I had to assume that either, A) Bella wasn't in the truck to begin with, or B) she hadn't yet recognized the car.

The truck suddenly silenced, and the lights faded into the night. Then it only took a few moments more before I could see.

Bella was indeed in the car, soaking wet and shivering, with a large man with russet colored skin sitting in the driver's seat, looking at her intently. Then the man threw his hand around Bella's shoulder and smothered her into his bare chest.

I stilled.

"Sorry," the man said apologetically, looking down at her gently, while Bella returned the look with a startled one of her own, "I know you don't feel exactly the way I do, Bells," he explained. "I swear I don't mind. I'm just so glad you're okay that I could sing," and then he smiled, saying, "and that's something no one wants to hear." His laughter filled the night and made my dead heart ache uncomfortably, only because it was so enjoyable to feel like this.

Bella was breathing heavily now, looking completely frightened by the way the conversation between them had been going so far. Then Bella went completely still when the man pressed his cheek to her head.

After a second, the man seemed to reconsider his course, and then sighed and released her. I heard the door unlatch as he reached for it, and suddenly his warm, musky scent was rising to me from the yard below.

Much more concentrated then the faded scent that drenched Bella's room, his unique, masculine, animalistic scent drove me into a frenzy of completely differing emotions and feelings, so much that I nearly missed the man's gasp.

"OH!" the man exclaimed, rage and surprise, fear, worry, and something darker, more primal burned on his face, before he slammed the door shut and blocked off his scent. "Holy _crap_!"

I couldn't help my smile.

Then he was starting the engine, his body shaking worse then even Bella's frozen form. But Bella was reacting to the alarm in his voice, turning to him with worry.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, biting her lip.

The man revved the engine, and it sputtered and faltered, falling silent again. The man glowered at the dash, his eyes venomous, spitting, "Vampire," as if it were the foulest word he could think of.

I saw Bella pale even worse, becoming the fragile, deathly pale from my vision, and she suddenly leaned against the door for support, asking, "How do you know?" at that, the man whirled to her with violent eyes.

"Because I can smell it! Dammit!" he swore. I arched an eyebrow up to my forehead, taken aback at this man's acute sense of smell and his knowledge of my kind. Then I saw the man's eyes roving the street. Seeing this, I ducked before he could find me leaning out of Bella's window, and moved quickly to Bella's living room on light footsteps. But still I could hear as the man muttered, "Phase or get her out of here?"

Then he was saying, in a completely subdued tone of voice, "Right. Get you out." After that, he started the engine and whirled the car down the drive with a loud squeal of tires, and bore down the street. I hovered around the front door, wondering if I should follow, since Bella was apparently quite alive, still, no matter what I had thought from my vision. In my musings, I must have missed the return of the truck, but suddenly I could hear Bella walking up the steps. I drifted for a few moments, eying the door, fingers urging me to reach for the light. Then she was wrenching the key into the lock and opening the door. And before she could reach for the light I rushed to it and flicked it on, no doubt surprising her with my welcome...

Bella locked eyes with me, and I saw a shimmer run through her body. Then she was hurling forwards, colliding with me even while I circled my arms around her to cushion her ambush.

"Alice, oh, Alice!" Bella cried the moment when we connected. I couldn't help the relief I was feeling and my confusion from showing.

"Bella?" I questioned, blinking and unfortunately unable to stop myself from quietly sniffing her hair where the man's lips had been. Of course, more of that strange mingling of disgust and pleasure burst inside me, only ruined by Bella's sweet scent diluting the smell. Eventually, I pulled her off of me and drug her to the living room where I climbed on the couch and let her curl into my lap. I absently stroked her back, waiting for her tears to end and for her to explain why I had found her alive when I was expecting to find her dad grieving over her loss.

"I'm...sorry," she moaned, mortified. "I'm just...so happy...to see you!" was her explained reaction.

"It's okay, Bella. Everything's okay." I soothed.

"Yes." She agreed, still crying.

I couldn't help sighing fondly, but still in disbelief, saying, "I'd forgotten how exuberant you are." Being so close to her sweet aroma, even as it was intermixed with that man's, was no help to me when I had gone so long without feeding my thirst.

Bella was suddenly looking up at me, staring me in the eyes. I saw the recognition across her face, and then she was leaning away.

"Oh," she said, quietly, red rising to her cheeks, prompting my thirst to strengthen in response. "Sorry," she apologized.

"It's my own fault," I admitted, grimacing at the memory of my escape. "It's been too long since I hunted. I shouldn't let myself get so thirsty. But I was was in a hurry today." Then I was glaring, a bit angry that she would even attempt suicide, or that I would somehow misunderstand my vision. "Speaking of which," I led on, "would you like to explain to me how you're alive?"

She suddenly stilled, and I knew she understood, which just made me madder to realize that the vision was right. She _had_ tried to commit suicide. What the _hell_ was she thinking?

She swallowed, murmuring, "You saw me fall."

"No," I disagreed, narrowing my eyes. "I saw you _jump_."

She pursed her lips, and it looked as if she was trying to think up a plausible explanation for her actions that wouldn't have me ripping her head off. But I was already shaking my head, moving my lips to give my own explanation.

"I told him this would happen," I admitted in a low voice, seeing Bella still as she watched me talk about the one person that could drive her to suicide, "but he didn't believe me. 'Bella promised'," I smiled. "'Don't be looking for her future, either. We've done enough damage'."

I frowned, continuing, "But just because I'm not looking, doesn't mean I don't _see. _I wasn't keeping tabs on you, I swear, Bella. It's just that I'm already attuned to you... when I saw you jumping, I didn't think. I just got on a plane. I knew I would be too late, but I couldn't do _nothing_. And then I get here, thinking maybe I could help Charlie somehow, and you drive up." I shook my head, so utterly confused. My voice was strained when I spoke, but I couldn't help it. "I saw you go into the water and I waited and waited for you to come up, but you didn't. What happened? And how could you do that to Charlie? Did you stop to think what this would do to him? And my brother? Do you have _any_ idea what Edward –" and then Bella was cutting me off, speaking in perfect clarity, but with a note of urgency in her voice.

"Alice, I wasn't committing suicide." She told me.

I eyed her for several prolonged seconds, not exactly believing her, but wanting to hear what she had to say. "Are you saying you didn't jump off a cliff?" I finally asked.

She grimaced, saying, "No, but... It was for recreational purposes only."

I clenched my jaw. She hastened to explain.

"I'd seen some of Jacob's friends cliff diving," she insisted. "It looked like...fun, and I was bored..." so I waited for her to continue.

"I didn't think about how the storm would affect the currents. Actually, I didn't think about the water much at all." I didn't buy it, of course, and I could see that she knew this, too. So she redirected with, "So if you saw me go in, why didn't you see Jacob?" Instantly, more visions assaulted me at the name now being repeated, now that I was concentrating on it, but none of it made any sense since they flashed by my mind's eye too fast for me to understand.

She continued, hesitantly, "It's true that I probably would have drowned if Jacob hadn't jumped in after me. Well, okay, there's no probably about it. But he did, and he pulled me out, and I guess he towed me back to shore, though I was kind of out for that part. It couldn't have been more than a minute I was under before he grabbed me. How come you didn't see that?" she asked.

I was frowning deeply now, both from the pain in my skull and in confusion.

"Someone pulled you out?" I asked, slowly, trying to understand.

"Yes, Jacob saved me." She answered.

I sat there in several moments, trying to will my mind to understand the mystery that was placed in front of me, now. Then, on impulse, I leaned forward and sniffed at her shoulder. She froze in response.

"Don't be ridiculous," I muttered, as the epiphany struck me suddenly. That man...he must have been Jacob, right? What made him so special that he could be invisible to my sight and incur such a strong reaction out of my vampiric instincts?

"What are you doing?" She asked. So I ignored the question.

"Who was with you out there just now? It sounded like you were arguing," Of course, I didn't honestly know that, since they were far enough away that I didn't hear them with my thoughts stuck on my imperfect visions. But I guessed that she would have to argue with him to get her to see me from the reaction he had had to my scent.

"Jacob Black. He's...sort of my best friend, I guess..." an odd expression crossed her face as she admitted, "At least, he was..." I could see her expression drifting to another place. So I nodded, preoccupied with my thoughts.

"What?" she questioned. I felt a smile flicking across my lips.

"I don't know," I admitted, "I'm not sure what it means..." and that was what was killing me.

"Well, I'm not dead, at least." She tried to lightened the strained mood. I rolled my eyes.

"He was a fool to think you could survive alone. I've never seen anyone so prone to life-threatening idiocy," I joked.

"I survived," she pointed out.

Then I was thinking about Jacob, and her explanation. He had saved her, then? But _how_, was the question. After all, if she couldn't fight the currents, why could he?

I pointed this out.

"Jacob is...strong..." the reluctance was clear in her voice, and I'm sure that she could recognize my speculative expression. She began to gnaw on her lip. Then it seemed as if an epiphany had struck her, her face lightening with relief.

"See, well, he's..." she began to say, pausing. Then she erupted, saying, "sort of a werewolf..." I blinked owlishly, mind reeling, "The Quileutes turn into wolves when there are vampires around. They know Carlisle from a long time ago. Were you with Carlisle back then?" she asked.

I knew the surprise was on my face as I looked at her in stupefied silence. But then I was frowning, muttering, "Well, I guess that explains the smell. But does it explain what I didn't see?" I wondered aloud.

"The smell?" she repeated.

Absently, I admitted, "You smell awful," and it was true, of course. Suddenly I recognized the primal, musky scent that clung to Bella and that man...like a dog, almost. "A werewolf? Are you sure about that?" I questioned.

"Very sure," she assured me, and then she winced with a thought that I wasn't privy to. Then she was prompting, "I guest you weren't with Carlisle the last time there were werewolves here in Fork?"

"No. I hadn't found him yet." I said absently, still lost in my own thoughts. More visions were assaulting me; each as blurry, indistinct and vague as the millions that I already had circling in my head. Then, a thought struck me about our conversation. At this thought, I was turning to Bella with a newly minted shocked and appalled expression. "Your best friend is a werewolf?"

She sheepishly nodded.

"How long has this been going on?" I demanded, fearing for her continued safety.

"Not long," she said defensively, "He's only been a werewolf for just a few weeks."

I couldn't help the sudden rage that filled me. Nor the glaring that lit my face like a firecracker. "A _young_ werewolf? Even worse!" I exclaimed furiously, making strangling gestures with my hands, "Edward was right – you're a magnet for danger. Weren't you supposed to be staying out of trouble?" I demanded.

"There's nothing wrong with werewolves," she grumbled, like a kicked puppy.

"Until they lose their tempers." I shook my head, trying to dispel the thought of a werewolf and...Bella in close proximity. It was much worse when the image of the werewolf that I had previously seen, this Jacob, popped into my head. The rage that suddenly filled me was so potent and so disgusting and ridiculous that I had to take a few breaths to calm myself.

"Leave it to you, Bella. Anyone else would be better off when the vampires left town. But you have to start hanging out with the first monsters you can find." I didn't like the sting in my voice, for I didn't want to spoil the girl's good mood – but I couldn't help the anger in my body, both at the mention of werewolves and the memory of that strange scent that belonged to Bella's friend that caused so many conflicting emotions to rise up in me.

"No, Alice, the vampires didn't really leave –" she denied immediately, making me snort, "– not all of them, anyway. That's the whole trouble. If it weren't for the werewolves, Victoria would have gotten me by now." At this, a burst of alarm struck me, and I had to fight down my panic quickly before she noticed. "Well, if it weren't for Jake and his friends, Laurent would have gotten me before she could, I guess, so –" but I couldn't take it anymore.

"Victoria?" I hissed. "Laurent?"

I could see that she was alarmed by the expression in my eyes. She then pointed to her chest, claiming, "Danger magnet, remember?" I cracked a smile, shaking my head.

"Tell me everything – start at the beginning."

So Bella told me everything, or as close to everything as she was willing to tell me. I knew instantly that she was avoiding some parts – something crucial that she didn't feel comfortable sharing. But still, what she told me already was more then enough to give me a heart attack, if I were a human. Everything from Laurent and the meadow, Victoria chasing her down, the werewolves protecting La Push and Forks now that the Cullens were gone, even the cliff and a small stint about a flame on the water. And then she wound down her story with the death of Harry Clearwater, and what her father was doing, now.

I listened quietly, without interrupting, letting her spill everything that she was willing. Always shaking my head and frowning, caught up in my ever present worry for her and the pain in my head from my continuous on flow of visions. Eventually, she grew quiet and we sat there in silence for several minutes. I watched the expressions flicker across her heart shaped face, trying to make sense of everything.

Eventually, I had to break the silence – it became a need that welled up suddenly in my dead heart. I just couldn't stand the silence. But my voice was barely more then a whisper when I murmured, "Our leaving didn't do you any good at all, did it?"

She laughed, and I was even more worried at the off kilter, slightly mad sound to it.

"That was never the point, though, was it? It's not like you left for my benefit." She said, quietly, sulking.

I scowled at the floor, reaching to my face and rubbing my fingers into my forehead. I was distracted by the pain, and my worry for Bella was almost a physical taste on my tongue. I couldn't help admitting, "Well... I guess I acted impulsively today. I probably shouldn't have intruded."

"Don't go, Alice," she pleaded with me. Her hand went to lock her fingers around my shirt, and I could hear her hyperventilating, now. "Please don't leave me." When I looked up I saw that she was even paler then she had been in the car with that man – Jacob – and that she had a frantic look in her eyes.

My eyes widened.

"All right," I said slowly, trying to calm the panicking girl down, "I'm not going anywhere tonight. Take a deep breath." I ordered.

I could see that she was trying to obey the order, but that she was struggling to calm down. So I watched her face carefully for several minutes as she worked her chest in and out, waiting for her to calm. That was when I spoke,

"You look like hell, Bella." I smiled.

"I drowned today," she needlessly reminded me.

"It goes deeper than that. You're a mess," I pointed out, reaching to roll a lock of her now stringy dark hair around one lone, pale finger.

She flinched.

"Look, I'm doing my best," she claimed. I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, watching her face intensely now. Her eyes shifted away, uncomfortable at my prompting.

"It hasn't been easy. I'm working on it.

My frown deepened. "I told him," I whispered to myself, but I knew immediately that she had heard.

"Alice," she sighed. "What did you think you were going to find? I mean, besides me dead?" she was looking for reasons behind my actions now, trying to deduce everything to compare to the illusion that Edward had created for her. "Did you expect to find me skipping around and whistling show tunes? You know better than that."

"I do. But I hoped." I admitted. Edward was an _idiot._ The first thing I was going to do after leaving Bella was find him and force him back here. His damn noble intentions were needlessly hurting the both of them, and it was about time that he realized that.

"Then I guess I don't have the corner on the idiocy market." And with that statement we fell once more into an uncomfortable silence.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

"That has to be Charlie," she said, stumbling to her feet. She grabbed my hand and so I willingly went with her to the kitchen. I knew she wasn't going to leave me room enough to quietly disappear, now. I knew that she feared that more then the imminent threat to her life from both Victoria and the werewolves.

"Charlie?" she answered the phone.

"No, it's me," I heard a husky male voice say over the other end of the phone, and I immediately recognized it as belonging to the werewolf, Jacob. Mostly because it did odd things to me that was almost nightmarishly cruel and oh so pleasant to me.

"Jake!" Bella exclaimed, confirming my previous assessment. I leaned closer without conscious thought, though I knew immediately that doing so would mean that Bella would misread my expression and intent.

"Just making sure you were still alive," Jacob's voice was bitter.

"I'm fine. I told you that it wasn't –" Bella tried to say.

"Yeah. I got it. 'Bye." He interrupted. Then he hung up on her. I couldn't help arching an eyebrow at that.

She sighed and hung her head back, staring at the ceiling. "That's going to be a problem," she mumbled. So I squeezed her hand gently.

"They aren't excited I'm here," I pointed out.

"Not especially," she smiled, though, smug. "But it's none of their business anyway."

I placed my arm around her and pulled her to me. "So what do we do now?" I mused. I wondered briefly, moving my mouth silently as I tried to think through the pain in my head and the constant stream of visions. I knew obviously that the most paramount was getting the family back in Forks. Bella needed her vampire guardian, after all.

I hadn't realized that I had been talking until Bella asked, "What things to do?"

I schooled my features, trying to hide my thoughts. Obviously, she wouldn't appreciate the surprise nearly as much as me, but I wanted this to be one of her happier, human memories; ones that she would retain even after being turned.

"I don't know for sure... I need to see Carlisle." I implored her.

"Could you stay?" she begged, making me frown, "Please? For just a little while. I've missed you so much." As if to prove her point her voice suddenly broke.

"If you think that's a good idea," I said, slowly, unhappy now. I really liked surprises, and I wanted to be out of Forks until I could calm my headache.

"I do. You can stay here –" she hesitated, as if considering, before adding, "Charlie would love that."

"I have a house, Bella." I pointed out, with a smile.

She nodded, clearly disappointed. I hesitated, before saying, "Well, I need to go get a suitcase of clothes, at the very least."

She threw her arms around me, shouting, "Alice, you're the best!"

"And I think I'll need to hunt. Immediately," I added, feeling the thirst burning in my throat and my venom pooling, now.

"Oops," she took a step back.

"Can you stay out of trouble for one hour?" I asked skeptically. Then, before she could answer, I closed my eyes and stopped her from speaking by holding up a single finger. Immediately, I was overwhelmed with sights, colors, and sounds.

Bella standing protectively in front of a small, gray shape, her skin white and hard, like stone, but glistening in the sunlight like diamonds casting rainbows. Edward facing down Victoria, spitting and seething, teeth flashing, the snow flying around their bodies. Jasper tossing Emmett aside, with the rest of the family watching, while instructing them on how to properly kill a newborn. Rosalie holding a small, gray shape in her arms, a fond, loving smile on her beautiful face. Edward standing in front of the Volturi, requesting...

"No!" I gasped, coming around suddenly. Bella jerked away, stunned and horrified by my exclamation.

"What is it? What did you see, Alice? Was it Victoria?" Bella chattered, sounding so frightened, but I was ignoring her, fishing out my cell phone.

It only ringed a couple of times, before Rosalie answered.

"What?" my sister demanded, sounding irritable, husky, almost. At another time I might have laughed at breaking into her personal time with her lover. I could her Emmett groaning in dismay in the background.

"Whatever you do, Rosalie, do _not_ tell Edward that Bella is dead," and before Rosalie could question me on my sudden epiphany, I exclaimed, "I'm here with her now! She's fine! Healthy! Don't make Edward leave us, Rose!" I was nearly hysterical. It was only Bella's hand on my arm that caused me to pause.

"I – yes, fine. I'll tell him that his precious pet is alive and well, of course," Rosalie snorted in disdain, before ending the call. I shut my own phone off and breathed a sigh of relief.

Instantly, my vision changed again.

Bella standing in our house on the outskirts of Forks, impatient. She kept glancing at the rest of our family, and I could see that everyone but Rosalie and Edward and me were there, watching. Then, suddenly, Edward was stepping through the door and Bella was running to him, crying loudly. He engulfed her in his arms and rained a hail of kisses and worship to her face.

The vision ended, and I could feel the smile on my lips.

"What was that about?" Bella asked, quietly, watching my expression, I turned to her now.

"Just averting a crisis," and I couldn't help myself – I spilled the beans, "And I saw Edward, he's going to come back." Almost instantly, it was like a switch was flicked in her head, and suddenly Bella was radiant and happy in a way that was so utterly startling and devastating.

"H-he is?" she squeaked, red in the face. I nodded.

"Yes – and if he isn't, I'm going to make him," I warned. She giggled.

"Thank you, Alice," Bella said happily. I smiled and took a step back.

"I'll be back in an hour," and as the panic began to show on her face, I added, "I promise – one hour."

Bella glanced at the clock, and I couldn't help laughing and leaning in to quickly kiss her cheek. She was so adorable. And then I was speeding out of the house and into the woods, running a path as far away from the Quileute territory now that I knew that the wolves were back.

I did my business quickly, actually finishing up well before the hour. Though my meal consisted of unappetizing deer, it was the best that I could do for now. When I wasn't so pushed for time, later, I'd have to seek out some more pleasing food.

When I returned, I found that Bella had sat aside a few pillows and a blanket on the couch, more for assuming the illusion of our supposed sleepover then because I would actually need it. I could actually stand in a corner all night and it wouldn't make a difference at all. But I appreciated it, nonetheless, making myself at home on the couch.

When Bella entered I smiled, patting the couch, and thanked her.

"You're early," she sounded elated. And not for the first time I wondered how badly Edward's abandonment had affected her.

She sat down next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder. So I wrapped my arms around her warm body and sighed.

"Bella. What _are_ we going to do with you?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I really have been trying my hardest."

"I believe you," I murmured.

The silence stretched on, and I knew Bella now had a question.

Finally, she mustered the courage to ask, "Does – does he..." she took a deep breath. "Does Edward know you're here?" the pain was clear in her voice.

"No," I admitted.

"He's not with Carlisle and Esme?" she questioned.

"He checks in every few months."

"Oh." Her face flickered with a bitter emotion. "You said you flew here... Where did you come from?" she asked.

"I was in Denali. Visiting Tanya's family," I explained simply. It was taking a lot of self control to continue this questionnaire. For my headache was back, along with all the visions that I couldn't make sense of. It seemed that the feeding had only helped slightly.

"Is Jasper here? Did he come with you?" she asked, almost pleading for me to say it was so.

I shook my head, frowning. "He didn't approve of my interfering. We promised..." I trailed off, remembering the promise that we had made to Edward, and why more then ever I was cursing him now. Then I was changing the conversation, asking, "And you think Charlie won't mind my being here?" Mostly, I was asking this as a way to change the topic, but I was inspired by the sound of Charlie's police car and his quiet mutterings a down the block.

"Charlie thinks you're wonderful, Alice," Bella assured me.

"Well, we're about to find out," I said simply.

A few moments later, Charlie was pulling into the driveway. As soon as Bella heard this she was jumping to her feet and hurrying to the door.

Charlie shuffled slowly up the walk, his face lowered and his posture slouched in defeat and grievance. It was unmistakable that he had just lost a dear friend not too long ago, and was now dealing with it. It was such a sad sight. He didn't even see Bella until she was hugging him around the waist, and then he was hugging her with all his might.

"I'm so sorry about Harry, Dad." Bella apologized. I smiled at the tenderness in her voice.

"I'm really going to miss him," Charlie mumbled.

"How's Sue doing?" Bella questioned.

"She seems dazed, like she hasn't grasped it yet. Sam's staying with her..." the volume of his voice faded in and out. "Those poor kids. Leah's jut a year older than you, and Seth is only fourteen..." he shook his head.

They stayed together as they headed to the door. Then Bella thought better of their approach before Charlie could spot me.

"Um, Dad?" Bella asked, a cautious expression on her face. "You'll never guess who's here."

Charlie looked at her blankly. Then he was whirling his head around the driveway, looking at the Mercedes across the street, the porch light reflecting off the paint. And before he could react, I was stepping up to them from the doorway.

"Hi, Charlie," I kept my voice subdued, as not to startle him or make his day any worse. "I'm sorry I came at such a bad time."

"Alice Cullen?" he said, peering down at me as if he doubted his own eyes. "Alice, is that you?"

"It's me," I confirmed. "I was in the neighborhood."

"Is Carlisle...?" he questioned, though I knew that he wasn't really worried about my adopted father.

"No, I'm alone."

I could see Bella knew this, too. I could see Charlie tightening his arm around his daughter's shoulder.

"Of course," Charlie said, almost mechanically, "We'd love to have you, Alice."

"Thank you,Charlie. I know it's horrid timing," I thanked and apologized to him him properly.

"No, it's fine, really." He dismissed. "I'm going to be really busy doing what I can for Harry's family; it will be nice for Bella to have some company."

"There's dinner for you on the table, Dad," Bella told him.

"Thanks, Bell." He gave her one more squeeze before shuffling toward the kitchen.

Bella and I retreated back to the couch, and this time I was the one to pull her against my shoulder.

"You look tired." I warned.

"Yeah," she agreed, shrugging. "Near-death experiences do that to me... So, what does Carlisle think of you being here?" she asked.

"He doesn't know. He and Esme were on a hunting trip. I'll hear from him in a few days, when he gets back." I explained. She nodded sleepily.

"Rosalie was going to tell _him_ when he checked in, though, wasn't she?" Bella asked, cautiously.

"Yes," but before Bella could interrupt, I said, "But we don't have to worry about that anymore. After I made that call to Rosalie I had another vision. Edward was returning to you in it. I think that means it'll be in a few weeks."

Bella suddenly laughed, then sighed tiredly. Then suddenly she was resting quietly, too tired to issue her regular mumbling as I had seen she would in my early visions of her and Edward's courtship.

An hour or so after she fell asleep, I noticed that Bella began to shiver from being pressed against my cold body. So I shifted her fully onto the couch and covered her in a blanket, while stepping away to climb into the recliner to watch her sleep.

Only after a few hours Bella began her usual mumblings, talking in short, half pleas to whatever people she saw in her dreams. I heard frequent mutterings of "Edward" and "Lonely" and "Emily" and even "Jacob." It was this last whisper that set rage boiling somewhere so deep inside me that I couldn't accurately speculate on it.

Eventually, though, that drowned out, and I was left to watch in silence.

Charlie found me in the chair that morning, pretending to be slumped and asleep at the sound of his approach. He eyed Bella in the chair, before shrugging and moving to the kitchen. After a moment, I sighed and stood to follow.

Charlie was trying to start the coffee machine, so I helped him to it. When he eventually sat down with the mug in his hands we looked to each other in silence while Charlie's eggs cooked, neither of us knowing what to say. Then I sighed, deciding to start.

"How bad was it, Charlie?" I asked softly. At my question, he sighed.

"Real bad."

"Tell me about it. I want to know exactly what happened when we left." I urged. During the pause I went about fishing out the hot sauce and shutting the stove off. Then I passed Charlie his eggs.

"I've never felt so helpless," Charlie began slowly. "I didn't know what to do. That first week – I thought I was going to have to hospitalize her. She wouldn't eat or drink, she wouldn't move. Dr. Gerandy was throwing around words like 'catatonic,' but I didn't let him up to see her. I was afraid it would scare her."

"She snapped out of it though?" I questioned, just imagining it.

"I had Renee come to take her to Florida. I just didn't want to be the one...if she had to go to a hospital or something. I hoped being with her mother would help. But when we started packing her clothes, she woke up with a vengeance. I've never seen Bella throw a fit like that. She was never one for tantrums, but, boy, did she fly into a fury. She threw her clothes everywhere and screamed that we couldn't make her leave – and then she finally started crying. I thought that would be the turning point. I didn't argue when she insisted on staying here... and she did seem to get better at first..." he drifted off in his thoughts.

"But?" I prompted.

"She went back to school and work, she ate and slept and did her homework. She answered when someone asked her a direct question. But she was...empty. Her eyes were blank. There were lots of little things – she wouldn't listen to music anymore; I found a bunch of CDs broken in the trash. She didn't read; she wouldn't be in the same room when the TV was on, not that she watched it so much before. I finally figured it out – she was avoiding everything that might remind her of...him." Was his explanation.

"We could hardly talk; I was so worried about saying something that would upset her – the littlest things would make her flinch – and she never volunteered anything. She would just answer if I asked her something.

"She was alone all the time. She didn't call her friends back, and after a while, they stopped calling.

"It was night of the living dead around here. I still hear her screaming in her sleep..." Charlie was shuddering at the distant memory, while I tried to contain my own horror, while internally cursing Edward in every language I knew and some that I could only imagine.

"I'm so sorry, Charlie," I apologized in my most remorseful voice I could manage, which wasn't hard.

"It's not _your_ fault." And I knew that he blamed someone else. "You were always a good friend to her," and this admission made me wince at the remembrance of my own failings.

"She seems better now, though." I pointed out.

"Yeah," Charlie sighed. "Ever since she started hanging out with Jacob Black, I've noticed a real improvement. She has some color in her cheeks when she comes home, some light in her eyes. She's happier." He paused, and his voice held a note of annoyance in it when he next spoke. A warning to me. "He's a year or so younger than her, and I know she used to think of him as a friend, but I think maybe it's something more now, or headed that direction, anyway." He told me. "Jake's old for his years," he defensively stated. "He's taken care of his father physically the way Bella took care of her mother emotionally. It matured him. He's a good-looking kid, too – takes after his mom's side. He's good for Bella, you know." He insisted. I briefly thought on the mysterious werewolf that Bella had befriended, and despite the unusual burst of irritation at his words, I had to agree that he was good for Bella. I could scarcely imagine the state she must have been in to seek him out in the first place. He must work wonders.

"Then it's good she has him," I agreed, with an note of heat in my voice. Charlie eyed me, perhaps wondering in the change in my stance I had taken, or my warring emotions that I could feel on my face. Finally, Charlie sighed, unable to actually fight me when I wasn't giving him reason to.

"Okay, so I guess that's overstating things. I don't know... even with Jacob, now and then I see something in her eyes, and I wonder if I've ever grasped how much pain she's really in. It's not normal, Alice, and it...it frightens me. Not normal at all. Not like someone...left her, but like someone died." His voice cracked in the end, so I held back my conflicting emotions to reach out to him and lightly brush my fingertips across his shoulder. With his uniform on, he wouldn't feel the chill in my body from the light brush. He appreciated it all the same.

Charlie's voice was hopeless as he continued. "I don't know if she's ever going to get over it – I'm not sure if it's in her nature to heal from something like this. She's always been such a constant little thing. She doesn't get past things, change her mind." He explained. I nodded thoughtfully, trying to hide my wince at the mention of Bella's sorrow. Edward was the most foulest idiot I could even imagine to think that this wouldn't drive her to the edges of her sanity. And it was only now that she was starting to make the climb back to a healthier place – though admittedly, even I could see that she isn't happy, not in the same way that she had been with Edward.

"She's one of a kind," I agreed.

"And Alice..." Charlie hesitated now. "Now, you know how fond I am of you, and I can tell that she's happy to see you, but... I'm a little worried about what your visit will do to her." He told me. I sighed, once more reminded of just how fragile the situation was – what my return was likely doing to her wounded mind.

"So am I, Charlie, so am I." I breathed slowly, leaning back against the counter. "I wouldn't have come if I'd had any idea. I'm sorry." I gave my useless apology.

"Don't apologize, honey. Who knows? Maybe it will be good for her." He offered, but I knew it was a pointless gesture. Bella would only be happy when Edward returned.

"I hope you're right."

We fell silent while Charlie got to work on his eggs and toast, chewing thoughtfully. He didn't question my lack of appetite, and for that I was grateful. He was so used to Edward's apparent anorexia that he didn't question any of our family's motives and actions.

"Alice, I have to ask you something," Charlie told me awkwardly. I frowned, knowing what it was he was about to ask.

"Go ahead."

"He's not coming back to visit, too, is he?" Charlie's voice was laced with suppressed anger.

So I tried to reassure him, answering softly. "He doesn't even know I'm here. The last time I spoke with him, he was in South America."

Charlie snorted. "That's something, at least. Well, I hope he's enjoying himself."

I stiffened, rage momentarily overwhelming me and mixing with the constant headache that I had been living with ever since yesterday. So I couldn't help the edge in my voice when I answered with, "I wouldn't make assumptions, Charlie." I knew immediately that he had recognized the flash in my eyes for the glint of a predator in the darkness, because he fell in an uncomfortable silence.

Eventually, Charlie removed himself from the table and went to the sink, running water over his dish as he washed it quickly. I watched him for several prolonged moments, before we both heard a loud groan from the living room.

"Alice?" Bella called, her voice sore. I frowned and glanced to the living room, only dimly aware of the way Charlie was stiffening.

"I'm in the kitchen, Bella," I answered. Bella joined us, though Charlie had to leave almost immediately – probably afraid of dealing with Bella's emotional state. His awkwardness really _was_ enduring.

We spent the day talking about my family, avoiding the topic of Edward because Bella wouldn't allow herself to hope that he would return. During the meantime, I casually observed the way she greedily soaked up everything I told her while also trying to hide her dependency to our family. It was quite obvious the way that our abandonment I hurt her – her mind was torn with the pain. And she was uselessly hiding it, putting on a brave face again instead of admitting everything and giving me material to use against Edward to get him to understand.

Sometime after dark Charlie returned, exhausted and fatigued in mind and body. He explained that he was heading to the reservation for Harry's funeral some time in the morning, so that he was turning in early. So me and Bella perched onto the couch until Bella nodded off.

I watched her again, picking through the girl's strong facade as I listened to her fears and pain through the medium of her dreams. It seemed that my arrival had sparked more of her nightmares again. Bella was constantly murmuring things to her dream Edward and pleading for him to stay. If and when I convinced Edward to return, he had a lot to make up for. He was foolishly noble, and those thrice damned morals of his were needlessly hurting _everyone_.

The only time that her nightmares cleared was when she murmured either Jacob's name, or someone named Emily. Always, she would remark that she was with her wolves. It seemed that Bella had adopted another family of monsters in our place after we left. I frowned.

Eventually, it was morning and both Bella and Charlie were waking. Charlie was obviously getting ready for the day, while Bella held absolutely still, listening to his movements upstairs. Eventually, Charlie headed down stairs, so we both feigned sleep until he was out the door. Then I opened my eyes and found Bella sitting up and looking to me.

"So, what are we doing today?" I asked, smiling. It was incredibly easy to fall back into my friendship with Bella. This was strengthened by the vision that had graced my presence sometime during the early dawn hours. The whole family – plus Bella, a vampire. Everyone was happy, even Rosalie. I couldn't help wanting that future, even if Jasper and my absence terrified me to the core. From my estimates, it wouldn't be long now until the vision of my "death" was going to occur.

"I don't know – do you see anything interesting happening?" she asked. I smiled and shook my head.

"But it's still early." I warned, a teasing grin on my face.

But Bella had tons of work to do, so I let her work while firing off questions about her school life, and the humans friends we had had. I leaned against the doorjamb, watching her every move, judging how healthy her mind was now. Bella answered as honestly as she could, but she was noticeably vague. I could tell that she hadn't been keeping up with them that well.

Then, suddenly, the doorbell was ringing – followed by my next vision.

I was standing in the kitchen – I recognized it now. And Bella was standing next to me, each of us wearing the clothes that we were now wearing. She was talking to me quietly, and I was trying to urge her to let me leave, so that I wouldn't confront her friend, this Jacob. Then, suddenly, she was darting away and returning accompanied by someone else, and yet _I_ couldn't see who it was standing there. And yet, my future self _could_, easily. She locked eyes with the invisible person, and suddenly my future self was flickering in and out of focus until she vanished.

If I was human, I would be deathly pale when I came out of the vision. Bella didn't notice, too busy looking in the direction of the front door. I breathed slowly to calm myself while Bella urged the person at the door to hold on. I knew I had only a few minutes at the most until I vanished from this world.

"Bella," I said slowly, trying not to alarm her, "I have a fairly good guess who that might be, and I think I'd better step out."

"Guess?" She echoed, trying to understand.

"If this is a repeat of my egregious lapse in foresight yesterday, then it's most likely Jacob Black or one of his...friends." I warned.

She stared, and I could see the epiphany on her face. "You can't _see _werewolves?" I grimaced at the suggestion.

"So it would seem." I was more then annoyed by this fact, and yet that was nothing to the fear gripping my heart, or the curiosity of the man who was waiting for us. The doorbell rang again – buzzing twice quickly and impatiently.

"You don't have to go anywhere, Alice. You were here first." She said, and I immediately knew that I was doomed. My curiosity had suddenly rooted me to my spot, giving Bella enough time to dart out of the room and head to the front door.

The door opened, and I could hear outside the noise of a truck idling away. I could hear the breathing of two large bodied men. A silence waged between Bella and the man standing in the doorway of her house.

Finally, Bella broke the silence. "Hey," she mumbled.

I heard Bella grinding her teeth. "Do you have a problem with her? Do you need something?" she demanded.

He hesitated.

"She's here?" he questioned.

"Yes." She sighed.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" he questioned. I was instantly aware of the hypersensitive feeling running throughout my body at the sudden idea that sprung to mind. It seemed Bella shared my idea.

"Of _course _you can, Jacob. Come on in." Bella offered.

I knew something had occurred to piss Bella off when she mumbled, "_Chicken_," under her breath. Then I heard him marching into the house, with Bella following half a second later. They hesitated at the living room, and I could hear him sniffing the air experimentally.

"Slumber party?" he asked with a touch of sarcasm.

"Yeah," Bella answered with the same level of acid. "What's it to you?"

"She's in the kitchen?" he prompted.

"Yes. What do you want?" Bella demanded.

I heard them moving to the kitchen now. And suddenly the door was opening. And for the first time, I locked eyes with Jacob Black.

My world exploded.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

Yes, I realize that this chapter was a near carbon copy of the actual three chapters of "New Moon" that this was based off of, but I really couldn't see any other way of improving it, other then the obvious; telling the chapters through Alice's point of view. But a number of things were changed to fit in with the plot of the story, the most notable being Alice's warning to Rosalie to keep Edward from attempting suicide. That's going to have an immediate effect on the story starting from next chapter onwards. Trust me, things are going to be changing quickly and furiously after this chapter. The seemingly insignificant imprinting has a _huge_ effect on the plot.

Anyways, that's really all I have to say, now. Let me know what you think in a review, 'kay?

Ta.

- Professor Image.

**Chapter 3: Feud**

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Twilight Saga. All respective materials are owned by Stephenie Meyer. I have written this story with only entertainment purposes in mind, and have thus made no monetary gain off of this story.

Summary: I had no idea that coming back here, back to Forks, would lead me into this situation... but can a vampire and a shape-shifting wolf really find love? Jacob seems to think so, but then again, that could just be the imprinting talking...

Enjoy:

White Night

02: Feud

The visions blinded me.

An endless stream of colors and sounds soared through my mind. Much too fast for me to make any sense of. I only got brief glimpses of familiar and unfamiliar faces; everything from Jasper's grimace, to Bella's elation, and even Rosalie's uncharacteristic tenderness. And still more assaulted me. There was screaming, echoing within my ears, so loud that my skull felt like it was going to split open. I heard cracking, snarling, more shouting. Death rose up to grab me with its cold claws.

I came to with a start, feeling my hard body being thrown through a window.

I landed in the lawn, unmoving, dazed, uncertain of how I could have ended up here. But the soft landing of paws on wet grass startled me out of my confusion. A glance showed that a huge, russet colored wolf was following me out of the window, dark eyes watching my resting form carefully. From the sidelines I could hear other snarls, and a brief glance showed two other werewolves stalking towards me, on guard.

I turned my attention back to the leader of the three wolves, searching his dark eyes even while my hands grasped at the ground, trying to find the perchance to support myself. But I felt strangely boneless in this moment, weary, as if the pain had robbed me of all my strength. But suddenly, I didn't need to support myself as the rust colored wolf ambled towards me and worked his large head under my arms to support me. When I was on my feet, he turned his head away and snarled at the two other wolves that were still creeping towards us.

The two of them paused, uncertain. Something seemed to pass between them, before they turned their attention back to me, glowering. And then they were suddenly pulling back, as if I was a ticking time bomb. The wolf at my side slowly turned back to me, regarding me with an icy expression.

"I'm fine now, thanks," I whispered, the reminder of the pain making my voice creak. He sniffed experimentally at me, before snorting and shuffling to the tree line, his foot caught on a pair of pants. When he returned again he was Jacob Black once more.

"What the hell was _that_, leech?" he immediately barked, and I snarled at his insult.

"Like I know, _dog_," I spat, feeling impulsively angry. Something about his manner pissed me off. I only half paid attention to the sudden desire to speak to him comfortably.

Still, he glowered my way, his face red with violence. Then his expression lifted, smoothing out. His color lessened, becoming a calm dark red instead of the murderous bright that it had been. He looked at me for several prolonged moments, as if he didn't know what to make of me. The look took out all of the fire in me.

Then he shifted, moving back to the house. I followed, hesitantly, somehow afraid of the abrupt change in his mood. When we got to the kitchen we found Bella sprawled on the floor against the door frame, whimpering in pain. I immediately lowered myself to her, fear gripping my heart.

"What the hell did you do, dog?" I growled, and was met with an accompanying snarl.

"What did _I_ do?" he seethed, and a glance showed his body was shaking with his rage, that was demanding he transform right there. "I did what I was born to do. Protect humans. It's _you_ that did this!" he made a motion to grab at me, but I batted his hands away, and then plucked Bella off the ground.

"What are you talking about?" I snapped. His lips pulled back over his teeth in the fiercest scowl that I had ever seen. His eyes looked between me and Bella for several long moments.

"When you started freaking out Bella tried to calm you, but you threw her across the kitchen," he explained, stepping up with the clear intent of taking said girl from me. I glowered, something that he mirrored, and with hissed at each other.

"I would never," I began to say, but my ears were already ringing with my own screams and Bella's shouts to get me to calm down.

"Oh, you wouldn't, would you?" Jacob growled, grabbing at my hands. I head butted him and he jerked away, shaking his head.

"No, I wouldn't," I insisted. He spat out a glob of blood onto the floor, and lowered himself into a crouch.

"Tell that to Bella, bloodsucker," he snarled. I returned the challenge, and we circled each other – I was barely aware of Bella's weak form in my hands. That was, until Bella reached up to trace her fingers across my cheek.

"No...fighting!" she gasped. I glanced to her, but she had already fallen unconscious again. I snarled, and whirled around in order to make my way from this house and towards a hospital. But Jacob was following.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Jacob shouted, keeping pace with my quick clip to Carlisle's car. I ignored him. He didn't seem to appreciate that as he reached for me and held me back. I turned, hissing. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"Do you _want_ Bella to die, mutt?" I growled, my eyes positively spitting dangers, even if my body was literally humming with my arousal. We exchanged heated glares, before he let me go. But still he followed as I made my way to the car, eventually climbing into the passenger seat after I lay Bella across the back seat.

He sniffed at the air, grimacing. I ignored him him as he complained, "Yuck," starting the ignition and whirling the car around to find the nearest hospital – the only one in the whole town of Forks.

We rode in silence, my frantic driving eating up the streets between us and the hospital, while Jacob exchanged furious, worried glances between Bella and I, seemingly looking for something in my expression. I held my face tight, not giving him any hint to my thoughts, while also trying to stay focus. The enclosed space meant that the whole car was filled in a mix of Bella's, Jacob's, and my scents, confusing my body greatly. The confusion helped me concentrate, since I wasn't focusing on any one scent.

A few minutes later, we had safely escorted Bella to the ER, wherein she was taken for diagnosis and possibly emergency surgery if she had any internal bleeding, or something that wasn't immediately obvious to my senses but was still life threatening. It was difficult for Jacob to follow, and he could only enter after he had been handed a change of clothing from a nurse at the insistence of the doctor. Once we were alone, I turned my furious gaze back to Jacob, growling.

"If she dies, mutt, you're next," at that, he growled, rage boiling over his frame.

"So you're still going to blame me for something that _you_ did? Is that it?" His body shook, but I could see that he was at least trying to contain the transformation. We stared balefully at each other, neither of us backing down.

"And why do you think that _I _would hurt Bella?" I hissed. He smirked at that.

"_Why_ indeed," he droned. "I only know that _I_ wouldn't hurt Bella. I love her. What's your excuse?" for some reason, his casual admittance made rage bubble in my heart. I turned away from him, trying to ignore the question and the uncertainty it brought about in me.

After a few minutes, he asked cautiously, "Why were you freaking out, anyways?" At the reminder, I raised my hand to my forehead, the remembrance of the pain almost tangible. But there was no pain now – there hadn't been since I was thrown onto the Swan Family's front yard. In fact, I felt immensely good, for some reason – almost warm, though it had nothing to do with my physical body temperature. I mused on these thoughts, while trying to ignore my companion.

"Visions," I mumbled, and that seemed the answer that he was looking for. I could hear him shuffling uncomfortably, and glancing to him I found him gazing at me with a surprisingly soft expression on his face. Our eyes locked, and then we were looking away.

"Is it...always so painful?" he broke the thick silence, trying for some levity. I crossed my arms over my chest, sighing.

"No – that was new," I admitted.

"Hm..."

We fell silent then, strangely at ease now – like an understanding had been reached, almost. My anger was long gone, now, lost to my pondering about my imperfect visions and my phantom pains. After a long moment of consideration, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Focusing on Bella was easy, and the vision that came to me brought an easy smile to my face as relief flooded my being. I gave a happy sigh, something that Jacob immediately took notice of.

"What is it?" he asked, worried, his eyes curiously anxious, his body tense with preparation. It seemed almost...protective?

"Bella's going to be okay," I think I might have choked at the end, my happiness was so profuse. The ease at which I saw the vision was astonishing. After three days of blurred, gray scale imagery, the sudden vividness of this new vision was amazing.

"What?" he barked, alert. I smiled, tapping my forehead. He understood immediately, eyes falling away from my face as he uttered, "Oh."

Another strained silence sprouted between us, made all the more oppressing by the fact that the waiting room that we were sitting in was completely devoid save us. Jacob busied himself by absently flipping through a magazine, every once and awhile glancing up curiously at me, before turning back to his magazine when he saw that I was watching.

"What is it?" I questioned, curious now at whatever thoughts were obviously bothering him. He sighed.

"Have you always been this...cryptic?" he murmured. I couldn't help laughing a bit at this, the absurdity of the moment overwhelming. It was a welcome relief – the tense atmosphere had been completely obliterated by his question and my subsequent laughter. I could see that he was giving me a strange smile, cautious, but instinctively happy at my mirth.

"Yes," I chuckled, relaxing in my seat. He nodded, turning away again.

This time, the silence was much more comfortable. I occupied this by absently counting the ticks of the nearby clock. After two hours the doctor that we had left Bella with reappeared to give his news. Jacob and I stood to properly greet him.

"Ah, Alice," Dr. Gerandy gasped at my appearance, exchanging a few glances between me and Jacob, "Are you the one who brought Ms. Swan in today?" I nodded.

"Yes. Is she alright?" I asked. Jacob was leaning forward, clearly interested in this line of the conversation. Dr. Gerandy nodded.

"Yes, there doesn't appear to be any lasting damage. She had a few cracked ribs, a few torn muscles, bruising, and a mild concussion – but she's going to make a full recovery," this news helped to calm me, though I had already been aware of all that he was telling us now, Jacob relaxing next to me. "I have to ask, what did Bella get up to now?" I hid my wince, mind already working on a cover story. But Jacob was a step ahead.

"That would be my fault, doctor," Jacob explained, slowly, wincing at his own memories, something that he wasn't able to hide. "You see, I was fighting with Alice here and Bella was trying to break us apart, but we were at the top of the stairs, so when Alice slapped me I bumped into Bella and..." he trailed off, the remorse palpable on his face. I knew what he was actually remembering, but his explanation worked better with his reactions.

"I see," said the good doctor, slowly, eying the two of us with surprise and sudden understanding, something that I couldn't make sense of, "And she sustained these injuries after falling down the stairs?"

Jacob nodded, "And rolling into the door frame." The doctor seemed to take this in stride.

"Well, I suppose we're lucky, then," the doctor said, face softening, "Bella could have easily broken her neck from the roll. We'll just have to be thankful that she could get off so lightly." He eyed us both for several moments, before offering, "Perhaps you two should go into relationship counseling so that this doesn't happen again?" I knew immediately that Jacob was just as startled by this offer as I was.

"We...aren't a couple, Doctor," I said, quietly. I barely paid attention to the doctor, more consumed by Jacob's sudden wince at my words. I frowned.

"Perhaps. Then maybe a few group therapy successions for anger management?" he prompted. I nodded.

"Of course. I'll be sure to look up a good clinic when I return to my family, Doctor," I promised, knowing that I wouldn't. Doctor Gerandy's eyes lit up.

"How is Carlisle doing, then?" he questioned. I smiled radiantly.

"Very well, doctor. You know how serious he is about his work," I explained. Then I decided to put in the hint of what I had planned, saying, "Though Esme isn't too fond of California. She's deathly afraid that we'll get into some kind of trouble. She's been positively unbearable with Carlisle these last few weeks. I suspect that we might be relocating, soon." The doctor's brightening expression wasn't as nearly fascinating as Jacob's perking head. His eyes found mine, and a moment of clarity passed between us.

_We're coming back_.

"Is that so?" Doctor Gerandy murmured, a smile on his face, "Then please, give Carlisle my respects and would you perhaps mention that he's always welcome in Forks?" I smiled, nodding eagerly.

"Of course, doctor," after that, the doctor left us alone in the waiting room again. Jacob and I retreated to one side of the room each, staring at each other dubiously.

"So – you'll all be back, then?" Jacob broke the silence, again. I nodded.

"Seems so," I said, eying his reaction. He frowned, but didn't look as nearly perturbed as I figured her would be to have more vampires in his town.

"Why?" he demanded. I pinched my expression, trying to maintain a level head. I wasn't under the impression that he was intending to be offending, it was just natural for him to be to a vampire. I shrugged.

"Edward loves Bella," I began, honestly. A fond smile came to my face, "_I_ love Bella. Like a sister. Edward's intentions to protect Bella from himself is needlessly harming the both of them. But, we all enjoyed our time in Forks, anyways, so none of us would mind returning, either. We only left because Edward insisted." He nodded, distracted.

Another long silence stretched between us, before Jacob wondered aloud, "Maybe we could visit Bella now?"

I silently stood, and Jacob proceeded me to the receptionist. After getting the room number Bella was staying in, we eventually found ourselves in her room. Immediately, Jacob knelt by her left side and cradled her hand in his, and I knelt by her right, doing the same.

A moment passed between us, one that I didn't fully understand but speculated repeatedly for several minutes. Then I leaned towards Bella and kissed her forehead.

"Get better, Bell," I soothed.

Jacob followed me out of the hospital, his face showing his troubled thoughts. For some reason, I wasn't at all surprised that he followed me into the car with me. As if I expected that he would follow me to the ends of the Earth if I asked him to.

"Will Bella..." he began to say, struggling with the concept of his own thoughts, swallowing thickly. "Will Carlisle be turning Bella into one of...y-you?" he asked. I took a deep breath.

"Honestly, I don't know," I maneuvered the car through the streets, making my way back to Bella's house. Maybe Jacob's packmates would still be there when we returned? "Probably," my face darkened with remembrance of our world, "It's against vampire law to let any humans know of us. It'd be safer for her to be turned. And she _has_ been demanding Edward to change her, after all..." I trailed off.

"The treaty between us says that the Cullens will never bite a human again," he warned, "Bite, not kill." I shut my eyes at the thought.

"Is that so?" I glanced to him out of the corner of my eyes. Jacob was watching me again, careful, intense – the same expression that I had seen him give me several times today. "So will the Quileutes attack us if we turn Bella?" at that, he sighed.

"Maybe," he murmured, turning to the window and looking forlornly out into the dim streets. "It all depends on whether or not Sam considers me important enough to let live..." I couldn't help losing control of the wheel for a split second. The car jerked wildly, and Jacob had to support himself by propping his arms against the dash. "Watch it!" he barked.

"What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean, dog?" I exclaimed, surprised at the fear and worry that was suddenly gripping my heart. Jacob scowled.

"None of your damn business, leech," was his answer. We glared at each other. Then he turned away.

I sighed, trying to ignore him now. It was difficult, though. Without Bella's scent to dilute his musk, he was inspiring several reactions in me without even realizing that he was doing it. Of those reactions, it was the arousal I felt that was the scariest. I could handle the desire to squish him like a bug, since that was a acceptable reaction for a vampire to have to a Quileute. But the womanly needs that sprung up in my body, like an electrical current, were completely unacceptable. I was in love with Jasper, damn it!

I could feel Jacob's eyes on me again, and knew that he would be wearing that intense expression again, like he was trying to pick me apart with his mind like I was the Sunday Newspaper's Jigsaw Puzzle. It made me feel hyper aware of his presence, of his scent, and his large, heavily muscled body and gorgeous, dark skin. He was perfect in a completely unvampiric way. Were all monsters just so damn beautiful?

"Stop that," I snapped.

"What?" he spat. I glowered at the wind shield. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"_That_. Why must you look at me like I'm some sort of freak show?" I growled. He was quiet for several seconds.

"You aren't...not to me." Again, I lost control of the wheel, gazing in horror at him, but he was already gripping the dash and spitting curse words out like they were out of style.

"Damn it! Quit doing that!" he roared. I boggled.

"Did you just...complement me?" I questioned. He glared.

"Is that so hard to understand? You're beautiful!" he shouted. My eyes widened. Then I snorted and refocused on the road.

"Of course I'm beautiful," I said dismissively, "I'm a vampire, after all." He seemed to consider that.

"That has nothing to do with it," he muttered. I blinked.

"What?"

"Just forget about it, okay?" he growled. And so we fell back into silence again.

Jacob's friends and the truck was gone when we made it back to the Swan residence. Only Bella's truck remained at the edge of the driveway. Once we were parked we sat there, not knowing what else to say.

"I should go," Jacob sighed, and I was interested in the note of regret in his voice. He slowly unbuckled and propped open the door, looking back to me once more. I held his gaze. He hesitated, before warning, "I won't be able to stop the rest of the pack from killing you if you show up on our land, you know."

"I do," I assured him. He sighed.

"No one's going to be happy about this," he turned away, face forlorn, "But I can't – this doesn't change anything... If you and your 'family' step out of line, I'll have to act, no matter how I wish that I didn't have to." Then he was climbing out of the car.

He disappeared into the tree line, and I heard his fading, sad howl in the wind. I sat in muted shock for ages, staring blankly at the road. Then my cell phone rang. It was Edward's number; the number that he disconnected unless he had something to say to one of us. I flipped it open and pressed it to my ear.

"_Alice_," Edward hissed, sounding furious, "What are you doing?"

"Bella's been hospitalized," I told him. I heard him gasp. So I went on. "Did you know that her best friend was a werewolf?"

"_What_!" Edward exclaimed, appalled. "What do you mean? Did this werewolf hurt Bella?"

"No," I breathed, knowing that he was going to be pissed. "That's my fault."

"WHAT!"

"Easy, Edward," I cautioned, wincing at his expletives, "I didn't come to hurt Bella after all. I was actually trying to save her, or at the least comfort her father. I saw her jump. Off a cliff." I explained.

"And?" he led on.

"And she's obviously fine. A bit too skinny, though. But that's to be expected," I winced at my next memories. I sighed. "I'm sorry Edward. I didn't mean to hurt her – but it took me by surprise. Did you ever think it was possible for a vampire to have a headache?"

"You put _Bella_ into a _hospital_ because you had a _headache_?" he asked incredulously. I flinched.

"Well, obviously, it wasn't a normal headache," I rubbed at my forehead again, feeling the phantom pains once more at the memory. "It was very nearly as painful as being turned, Edward. You know I wouldn't intentionally hurt Bella." I scolded. I heard him breathing heavily, obviously trying to control his anger.

"What _happened_?" he demanded. I sighed.

"After I saw the vision of Bella jumping off a cliff, I started to experience a near constant wave of visions. They were happening so fast, and so randomly that they were giving me a headache." I explained. "When I got here, I...met someone. Someone who made them worse. For an instant, I felt like I was dying. I didn't even realize Bella was trying to help me, I didn't realize that I was screaming. I could have _killed_ Bella and not have realized it," If I was a human, I'd be crying. "Luckily, Jacob was there to pull us apart." Admitting that I owed a werewolf was difficult, but I knew that it was the least I could do for him. He'd already gone out of his way to help Bella and me, even calling off his packmates from attacking me for hurting Bella.

"Who is Jacob?" he wondered at the name. I shut my eyes.

"Jacob is Bella's friend. The werewolf." I said. I heard Edward sucking in another breath. I knew that he'd find the knowledge that he owed a werewolf, our mortal enemies a debt of gratitude for saving Bella to be slightly disgusting, and a bit ironic.

"A werewolf saved her?" he prompted. I sighed.

"Yeah – not just this once, but loads of times," and before Edward could interrupt I rushed, saying, "Victoria is back."

A gasp. Silence.

"Victoria? What?" Edward exclaimed.

"Yeah – she's apparently pissed that James was killed. They were mates after all. Now she's after Bella's throat to get revenge on you. She wants to kill Bella so that you will feel the pain that she feels," I explained. Edward was cursing off the phone, his hand obviously muffling the receiver. When he returned, he sounded bloodthirsty.

"I'll be on the first plane available," he promised. I nodded.

"Good, Bella needs her vampire guardians," I smiled. Before he could end the conversation, I continued, "Edward, there's more to this than that. Why do you think Bella has been relying on the werewolves? It's not just about protection. Your leaving hurt her as deeply as it did you. So if you think that I'm going to sit back and let you hurt her again as soon as you feel like she's safe again, then you better wake up."

"Alice," Edward sighed, unhappy.

"No, Edward – I'm done following your orders. Bella's my best friend, damn it, and she's practically insane! There's no way I'm going to let you hurt her again. It's about time you take some responsibility for your actions and wake the hell up!" I seethed.

"Alice," Edward breathed, slowly, "I'm not going anywhere. I – I can't. Not anymore. From now on, I'll be there for her." He promised.

"Good," I smiled, "Be safe."

"You too," and then he hung up.

Almost immediately after that was over, I dialed Carlisle, hoping that he had returned to Tanya's home. After a few rings Kate answer, bubbly as usual. After my prompting, she admitted that Carlisle and Esme had returned and were quite concerned for me. I asked her to put Carlisle on.

"Alice?" my adopted father questioned curiously. I breathed, slowly.

"Carlisle – no more games. We're coming home. To Forks..."

XXX

By the time Bella regained consciousness a whole day after the accident, Edward had returned to Forks and was waiting at her bedside. Naturally, I gave them their solitude to sort out there business, while talking quietly with Charlie who was noticeably upset with me and Jacob, but ultimately forgave us after seeing how upset we were at Bella's condition.

Naturally, I was shocked to hear from Charlie that Jacob had assumed full responsibility for Bella's condition, citing that he had unnecessarily antagonized me because of my connection to Edward. So, of course, Charlie would forgive him, but would ban him from coming back to the house for several weeks until we could sort out our issues.

Of course, somehow the future had been changed, again. From my best guess, I would say that the change came from Bella trying to calm me down and getting injured in the process. Naturally, that would have Edward running to her side. In my previous vision I had only seen Bella reuniting with Edward at our mansion. Not a hospital room. But still, it was a happy occasion for the both of them, and I was left with plenty of new mysteries to ponder.

I still couldn't see my own future, which was the immediate concern. But, for some strange reason, the strength of my visions had increased exponentially. The day after Bella's accident had seen me getting a few glimpses of our distinct future – images of a vampire Bella accompanied by Edward and a short gray mass mixed freely with images of Jasper arguing violently with the wind, his eyes being able to see something that I wasn't. And of course, the images of Victoria and Edward in the snow, and a newborn being torn to pieces by invisible teeth. And then, finally, our family facing down an army of newborns.

Nothing made sense to me – I was seeing much further along into the future then I had ever been able to – except for the glimpse of Jasper's face when I had first been turned. And always, there was the absence of me – though I was beginning to understand that I wasn't gone, per say, but that I just couldn't see myself. Like someone had blinded me to my own image, my own future.

Jacob came and went, never staying long, just hanging around long enough to get an update about Bella's condition from Charlie, and for some reason giving me his very same, intense expression that I was now attributing to him. This might have been amusing, if it wasn't for the way that Jasper reacted to the look – growling possessively every time Jacob drew near. But that couldn't be right, could it? Why would he have to protect me from Jacob?

When Carlisle and the rest of my family's plane had arrived, Esme, Emmett, and Carlisle loped off to the mansion to fix it up. We _had_ been gone for several months. So of course it would be a mess. Jasper hovered around me constantly, though, getting more and more obsessive with each of Jacob's visits. I tried asking Jasper about it, but he asked me to leave it alone. So I did.

Rosalie, of course, avoided the hospital, and by extent, Bella. From what I understood, she was sleeping in a penthouse that Carlisle owned in Seattle until the mansion could be properly fixed up.

I stayed with Jasper, the both of us pretending to sleep out on Charlie's couch who was gracious enough to offer us a place to rest until Carlisle could finish up. I spent most of my days helping Charlie around the house, helping him repair the broken kitchen window or cooking food for him or doing laundry, and spending time with Jasper. I was glad to be back with him – my long term boyfriend/husband/lover, whichever roll we decided to use. And of course, as I had expected, we had had a bit of row about my involvement in Bella's attempted "suicide" and my hand in her injuries. Of course, I didn't accept that I was wrong in my decisions, so we spent half a day ignoring each other until we decided to make up. I missed him too much to stay mad at him.

It would be almost perfect – if Jacob Black wasn't always in my thoughts.

I knew it wasn't just a physical attraction that drew me to him, since I could and should be able to ignore that if it was. It didn't make sense for me to connect with the young wolf so quickly when I had already given my heart to Jasper. And yet, when I least expected it he was there – in the back of my mind, giving me his intense look.

I knew that Jasper realized that something was wrong – and he obviously knew that I knew, too. But neither of us mentioned it, of course. Jasper was trying to give me the space needed to sort it out on my own, and I was too busy ignoring it to bring it up.

It worried me, about what this could mean. How I could experience these these thoughts of infidelity when I had spent almost every single moment of my known life loving Jasper with every fiber of my being. Why now did I have to feel these things. So that I could ruin my own happy life?

It was a week later, when I went out hunting for the first time since Bella's accident that I met him – again.

XXX

The forest blurred around me, and yet my eyes could see – everything. I was running by the creek, Rosalie making a path in front of us, ignoring my silent contemplation. Since the mansion was fixed up again she had returned to us, claiming her usual room. And since the Seattle wilderness didn't possess some of the choicer species of animals, she had agreed to come hunting with me. Now she was out looking for a predator – either a bear, lion, or some other cat. I was, meanwhile, too preoccupied with my own thoughts to seriously devote my time to hunting. I'd probably spend my meal eating a deer, or an elk, or maybe a moose. Yuck.

Suddenly, I was alone.

A preternatural sensation had overcome me, and I had stopped. Rosalie hadn't paid me any mind, preoccupied by her own hunger. So she didn't return to investigate my sudden pause. My vampiric instincts were in a frenzy, sensing another predator in my midst, several, in fact. I could feel their eyes upon me even now.

Suddenly, on the other side of the ravine, three large, dark shapes stalked out of the brush. I instantly recognized two of them. One in particular.

Jacob and two of his packmates were edging out of the foliage, cautiously, towing the line between our territory and theirs. I hesitated, then approached the line between us.

"Jacob?" I called. He dipped his head in greeting, before jerking back to the trees. His friends followed. Then he was stepping out of the tree line in human form, still bare chested and without footwear.

"Alice," his voice was throaty, and his eyes smoldering with emotions that I couldn't understand. He gave me his usual, unnervingly intense look, before approaching the line again. I followed, and soon we were both stepping into the shallow stream.

"Where did the others go?" I wondered. Jacob glanced away, frowning.

"Elsewhere –" he sighed. "They're putting a lot of trust in me. Trust I haven't earned," he admitted.

"They're your pack," I explained. He smiled, grim.

"No – they're my friends. Quill and Embry, you see," he elaborated. I nodded.

"Was there something you needed?" I wondered. He glanced to me.

"You'll be finishing your years in high school here, then?" he questioned, avoiding my own. I frowned.

"Yes."

"And after that, what will you do?" his eyes locked with mine. My breathing stilled, as if I truly was made of the stone that I looked like. Marble. When I answered, it was cautious.

"Probably college – I'm interested in genetic engineering. Carlisle and Edward studied it a few years ago, so I'm curious. I pretty much know everything about the arts now," I smiled, bitter. Then I softened my expression at my other plans. "And I might marry Jasper, again." As the words left my mouth, Jacob suddenly flinched away, before flashing his teeth in a snarl.

I crouched, eying his tense form. But Jacob wasn't looking at me – he was spilling out a stream of curse words that would have made me blush if I was human and alive. Then he slumped his shoulders and sighed.

"So you and Jasper are pretty serious then?" he questioned. I stilled, my eyes widening.

"Jacob?" my surprise was evident. It sounded like Jacob was fishing for information, information that he could use to...but why would he? This didn't make any sense!

"Forget about it," he supplied, letting me take the easy route. I sighed and relaxed. He was already stepping away, the water sloshing around us.

My hand snapped out before I could react, clamping around his wrist. Jacob hissed at the sensation of my cold fingers, and I couldn't stop my responding hiss. It seemed our instincts were a bit too prominent to ignore when trying to have polite conversation. But we weren't attacking each other, so that was something.

After a second, Jacob reigned in his impulsive anger, turning his head away and taking a deep breath of air that wasn't filled with my scent. If a vampire's scent was as repulsive to a werewolf as a werewolf's scent was to us, then I could understand. Finally, Jacob turned back to me.

"What?" he snapped. My lip curled.

"You know, I thought I was the only one who could be cryptic – and here you are speaking in tongues, and I can't make sense of you," I pointed out. He smirked.

"Get over it – it won't due to worry your pretty little head over it," he responded. I shook my head.

"You have nerve, I'll give you that," I smiled, looking around the empty ravine meaningfully, "You are aware that one of your kind is no match against one of us – at least alone." He shrugged.

"So? I'm not scared of you," he laughed, his shoulders shaking mockingly, "Pixies don't scare me."

"Oh?" my face darkened, "Then what _are_ you afraid of?" he stared at me blankly for several moments.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," he grinned, arrogantly, and then moved his free hand to cover the one that I was still clutching to his wrist, "It's the wolf, you know? Always ready for a fight."

"Stupid," I groaned, releasing him. He took an immediate step back to give us both some space.

"Yeah, I get that all the time," he joked. I ignored him.

"Why are you bothering me?" I questioned, eying him from the corner of my eyes, "I'm still standing on our land, you know?" he shook his head.

"If I could avoid you, I would," he breathed deeply, grimacing at my scent, "but I can't. That's all I'm willing to say."

"Is that so?" I wondered briefly what he meant, turning back to him. He held my stare, before turning to the embankment. "Wait!" I urged. He paused.

"If – when," I amended, "when Bella is turned...will you still be her friend?" I asked. Though I was speaking on Bella's half, it felt more like I was speaking for my own. What was I thinking?

He considered it, his face softening with resignation, before sighing.

"I guess I'm a leech lover after all," he mused. And for some reason, that made a joyous emotion bloom in my heart. I smiled.

"Thank you." He nodded at my words, distracted.

"Sure, sure," he waved, and then he began marching to the tree line. This time I didn't stop him.

When I eventually found Rosalie she was just cleaning up after tracking and killing a bear and a few antelopes. When I drew up close she scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Ugh! Alice, what the _hell_ did you roll in?" she complained. I sighed.

"Had a run in with a werewolf, no worries," I stated. She eyed me carefully, before nodding. So I continued, saying, "Why don't you head back? In all the excitement I forgot to feed myself..."

"Sure," she agreed. Then she was running away in the direction of the mansion.

I spent some time hunting a few dear, drinking my fill. A few times they drew close to the river, and I got a glimpse of russet fur slinking through the bushes. I wondered what Jacob was doing, trailing behind me? Was he sent by his pack to spy on me?

I eventually returned to the mansion, to much tension. Esme immediately smothered me in hugs and kisses, exclaiming her fears about my run in with Jacob. Emmett joked about me "running off" a werewolf by myself, while Carlisle watched on with reassuring eyes. It was only Jasper that watched me in silence, his face unreadable. When I was finally able to pull away he lead me to our room.

"It was _him_ again, wasn't it?" Jasper spat, and I knew immediately who he was thinking about. I guess he must have recognized one of my tells, because he began cursing Jacob's name for several long moments.

"Jasper, what is it?" I begged, wishing that he would tell me whatever it was that was bothering him so. Instead, he stalked around the room, seething and making strangling motions with his hands. Suddenly, he was whirling on me.

"You trust me, don't you?" he begged. I blinked at his tone.

"Of course," I assured. He smiled.

"Then promise me –" he growled, "Promise me you'll stay away from Jacob Black from now on?" he demanded. I blinked, astonished.

"What – what's going on, Jasper?" obviously something was wrong if he was making these types of demands. What was it about Jacob Black that angered him so?

"Please – don't ask. It's better if you don't," he urged, moving his hands to grip my shoulders tightly. "Please, just...stay away from him, okay?"

So many emotions rose in me at that moment that I couldn't make sense of anyone of them, let alone Jasper who could only hear an echo of them. He flinched anyways, though, overcome by the emotions speeding through my being. I stared into his eyes for several long minutes, before I sighed and moved my hand to cup his cheek – knowing what I was going to say.

"I can't promise that," I said, truthfully, and before he could react I continued. "You _know_ I can't. Jacob is Bella's best friend. He's going to be there for her for _everything_. So, naturally he's going to have to be around us, her _family_," I explained. A bitter look crossed his face, so I sighed and pinched his cheek. "Please, Jasper – why do you have to make this so complicated? It's not like I _want_ to spend time with him – he just keeps popping up. I just can't shake him," I shook my head, smiling.

Jasper wasn't smiling.

"Look," I said, quietly, recognizing the jealous note in his stance from my interactions with Rosalie and Emmett, "If it'll make you feel better, I promise not to interact with him alone, okay? That way there's other people there so that he won't try something," not like he _would_, of course – this was Jacob that we were talking about, a werewolf! But I knew that I needed to say something to calm Jasper down.

Jasper breathed a sigh.

"Are you sure?" he asked, hesitant. I smiled.

"Yes, Jasper," I kissed his cheek, giggling, "Relax."

He smiled.

XXX

After a long day of setting my life back up, reapplying to the local high school along with Jasper and Edward, I found myself sitting in Bella's hospital room while Edward and she spoke in low tones, gazing fondly in each other's eyes. Jasper was hovering around the door, glancing out to the hallway every now and then. I busied myself by carving the apple that had been dropped by for Bella's lunch.

Patterns were beginning to emerge on the apple, the knife exposing pale flesh to the open air. But my mind wasn't on any artistic pursuits, but more visions – trying to see just how far I could see into the future.

Flickering images of Bella as a vampire with Edward in a cozy cottage blended easily with scenes of Bella and Edward exchanges wedding vows – Bella as rosy cheeked and unmistakably human as ever. These were followed by an assortment of images of us, my family, standing amongst dozens of vampires in defiance of an opposing force; the Volturi. And then, brief glimpses of Rosalie tending to a weak, and slightly out of focus Bella came to the forefront of my mind. I could only assume that that was what would force Edward to change her.

I knew Edward was paying careful attention to my visions, as interested in the future as I was. His careful mask of gentle assurances and unquestionable love for Bella was broken up by the several exchanges of emotions that he couldn't hide – from joy, to pain, to trepidation. I didn't try to deny him this – it was as important to him as it was to me.

"So how come the future changed, Alice?" Bella finally brought the attention to me, looking to me now with curious eyes. "I mean, you said that Edward wouldn't be returning for several weeks. What changed?" I locked my gaze with her to explain to her what I had been able to infer on my own with all seriousness.

"You did," I breathed. Bella blinked in confusion, so I led on. "When you decided to try and calm me, you changed your own future. Your injuries forced Edward's hand, you see." I exchanged a meaningful look with my clueless, but noble brother. "After hearing about everything that happened, he simply couldn't stay away anymore." I could see that my words were having an extreme effect on the girl. Bella was lowering her head with a red stain marring her pretty features. Edward chortled at her sheepishness.

"Sorry," Bella apologized. His laughter tapered off into quiet chuckles, and he reached for her, petting at her cheeks and smoothing her hair down, pressing his cool forehead to her blistering skin.

"Don't be," he breathed, with reverence clearly expressed on his face. "I was a fool to leave. I should have known that I couldn't stay away – I didn't have the strength to, you see." He explained.

"Edward," Bella murmured, adoration present in her voice, face and stance. She raised her hands to cup his hard, cold ones, gazing up into his amber eyes. Edward smiled.

I left them there – they obviously hadn't gotten through all their issues yet, and most likely wished to be alone. Jasper followed me without complaint, eyes tracing the hallways as we headed back to the man lobby. I wasn't paying attention to anything, focused on my own thoughts, the visions that accompanied my every step, my ever breath in this life. So, naturally, I was startled when, the moment our elevator arrived I scented a familiar presence, one who was just as surprised to see me as I was him.

Jacob Black.

"Alice," he breathed. For an instant, I was stunned by the strength of emotions that hit me from locking my honey gaze with his dark eyes. Then Jasper was snarling from beside me.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, mutt," Jasper stalked forward, foot clearing the lip of the elevator, with the obvious intent on tackling Jacob. In response, Jacob sneered, crouching, looking like he was going to meet Jasper face on without batting an eyelash.

"No!" I exclaimed, reaching out to rest my hand against Jasper's arm. I didn't know who I was more worried for; Jasper or Jacob? But I knew that I couldn't let them fight, here, where the whole town could see. I could already hear the quiet mutterings of those people that were able to see the conflict in action.

"Jasper, not here!" I urged. Jasper grunted, glanced to me, rolled his eyes, and then glared at Jacob.

"Later then," Jasper warned.

"Of course," Jacob agreed.

"Jasper!" I insisted. He grunted, then allowed me to pull him away from the elevator. We retraced our steps down the hall, intending to find the stairs. I could feel Jacob's eyes on me the whole way, and as we turned the corner I glanced behind me once more to see that Jacob was sneering in our direction – obviously disgusted with our presence here.

Of course, why wouldn't he be? He was a werewolf and we were vampires. Our mere existence was an affront to him. Hell, even vampires instinctively hated werewolves. Otherwise Jasper wouldn't have been ready to tear off his head whenever someone mentioned Jacob's name.

Jasper was beside himself with anger. We hung around the back of the hospital, not attempting to vacate the premise since I wanted Jasper to vent his rage. I wasn't at all surprised to see my Jazz taking his fury out on the dumpsters, tearing the metal lids off and curling them in his hands. Unfortunately, I had misinterpreted his anger, because, before I could stop him, he had hurled one of the balled up lids through a nearby car's windshield. The alarms made me jump in worry and fear.

"Jazz! Calm down!" I urged him. He turned violent eyes on me, snorting and shaking himself.

"Please, Alice," he begged, shutting his eyes and throwing a fist into the dumpster. It crumbled around the blow, "I'm really too pissed right now to be conversing with you. If I don't do something, I'm going to go insane." I held my breath, waiting.

Jasper mangled the dumpsters for a few more seconds, even moving to the bleating car and kicking in the engine. The alarms suddenly died at the blow, whining pathetically for a few seconds longer. Jasper seethed, crouched, and making aggressive gestures, probably estimating how much control he now had. I watched, silently, apprehensive.

"Okay," Jasper said, voice low, devoid of emotions, "We can go now." So I followed him mutely as he pulled us away from the scene of his impromptu vandalizing of the back of the hospital. We were lucky that only the staff could come out here – though that made me all the more sympathetic to the person that owned the car that Jasper had ruined. They obviously wouldn't be coming into work on their own for the next while.

Jasper didn't say anything on the way back, still beside himself with his anger. I watched him silently, wondering why he was so affected by the instinctual hate that vampires had for werewolves. If I could have a somewhat polite conversation with Jacob, why couldn't he?

"Jazz," I began, pausing when I didn't know what to say to him to make it better. His eyes moved to me, expression softening for a moment, before he went back to glaring at the road. Cautiously, I reached towards him, moving my hand to grasp at his forearm. He sighed.

"I'm not angry at you, Alice," Jasper said quietly, his voice devoid of fire. He took a calming breath, before letting it out and relaxing, "I'm just angry at _him_." He spat.

"Why?" I pleaded for him to tell me the truth. Jasper's eyes turned back to me again, wincing at my worried expression.

"You...you don't know what he is like," Jasper began, slowly, testing himself, obviously deciding on what he should impart to me. "And honestly, I think it's better if you didn't know. It'll just worry you pointlessly." I frowned.

"Why?" Jasper looked away, face unreadable.

"Let's just say, that there's a reason why I don't like Jacob Black, okay, and leave it at that?" he questioned. He fell silent then.

I watched him, wondering if he would continue if I insisted on this subject, but I knew instinctively that it would be a pointless gesture. My eternal lover was too much a soldier, too much a southern confederate to worry me with things that he deemed too dangerous for my delicate handling. It was the old world values. Back then, no one would think to let women fight their wars.

I sighed.

"Okay, Jazz, I'll let it go," I promised, and at my words he relaxed. "But," I continued, and he tensed up at the condition being made, "I don't want you fighting with Jacob Black, not unless you tell me what is going on between you two, or he does something truly despicable. If Edward and I can hold polite conversation with him, then you should, too." I insisted. He grimaced.

"Fine," he seethed. I smiled.

"Thank you."

But somewhere, deep down, I knew that this was only the start. Because, I knew, instinctively, that things were only going to get worse before they got better. Much worse. And yet, I couldn't find it in myself to be afraid. Bella trusted Jacob Black with her life, so I was going to offer him the curtsy of civility.

We fell into silence, then. I pressed my cool cheek against the equally cool window, my honey comb colored eyes roving the flashing forest that surrounded the road that we were speeding on. My thoughts were a torrent, and hurricane of emotions and images of the would be future, nothing quite so clear to me like the present was before my sharpened eyes. But a trace of movement in the forest that we were speeding passed caught my eyes.

A giant, rust colored wolf sped by, keeping pace with our car. And as I watched, consumed by my curiosity and wondering what drove Jacob Black in his pursuit of us, I felt the first stirrings of an emotion that I hadn't thought myself capable of feeling for the pursuing werewolf. I shut my eyes against it, forcing it away before Jasper would sense it. I didn't want to feel, or to wonder what motivated Jacob's erratic decisions. He made no sense to me, and I refused feel anything for him, when I was with the man I loved already.

Still, Jacob Black was out there, watching, and a small part of me found that pleasing to me...

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

Second chapter, finished.

Writing the interactions between Jacob and Alice is amusing. I have a clear picture of their characters, and how they would react when placed into a situation like this. But I predict that getting them into the first stages of a romance/love triangle is going to be the hardest part. But ultimately, neither of them has any chance. Because no one can fight an imprinting.

Jasper was also amusing to write. I can already tell. That even though I hate canon Jasper, I'm going to love my version of him. I better, too, because he's going to be central to this series. Especially when I get to writing his and Leah's book in conjunction with the sequel to this story.

Anyways, as I always say, drop a review by and give me your thoughts. I'm always curious about what people think of my stories.

Ta.

- Professor Image.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Twilight Saga; Stephenie Meyer owns all respective materials. I have written this story with only entertainment purposes in mind, and thus have made no monetary gain off this story.

Summary: I had no idea that coming back here – back to Forks – would lead me into this situation…but can a vampire and a shape-shifting wolf really find love. Jacob seems to think so – but then again, that could just be the imprinting talking.

White Night

03: Friends

Getting back into the swing of things was laughably easy. Though a majority of the friends that Bella and I had assembled through Forks High School was dissenting to us rejoining the clique, Angela and Ben were more than happy to see us return. Even Mike Newton was happy to see me, in the way that a hormonal teenage boy was happy to see an attractive woman even if he hated her. However, understandably, he was not fond of Edward at all, and was a little annoyed with Bella for my brother's presence.

Lauren, Jessica, and many of the other popular girls in the school were of course unhappy to see my return. As immature, shallow children living in their own fantasy worlds, Lauren, Jessica and the other girls wanted all attention on them…and invariably my appearance drew all the attention to me, even if I did not desire it.

Ben was not pleased with Edward's presence, and this was understandable. In the weeks following Edward's decision to court Bella, my brother had been so elated that he had wished to share his joy with Angela. Motivated by Angela's kindness towards Bella, even in her own thoughts, Edward attempted and succeeded in playing matchmaker for her and Ben Cheney. However, how he managed this was the reason for Ben's contempt; Edward had feigned interest in the young girl who held Ben's interest to prompt the boy into asking his crush to the prom. It had worked tremendously well…

Therefore, while Ben was still unhappy with Edward, not understanding the whole story behind their argument, he did not resist Edward rejoining the group. Like his girlfriend Angela, Ben was unusually kind for a teenage boy, and understood the effect that my brother had on Bella. That was why he did not argue Edward's inclusion in the group.

Bella was over the moon – with friends and Edward back she had everything she wanted…well, almost everything…

She confided in me the day after she returned from the hospital, morosely complaining about the confrontation between Jacob Black and Edward in the hospital that Carlisle had to break apart. The mere mention of Jacob's name and the hurt in Bella's voice brought out a curious reaction in me. As I heard the story from Bella's lips, I had not paid attention to the screwdriver in my grasp that I was using to finish putting in the new window, and was unaware that I had gripped it so tight that the flimsy metal curled in on my fingers.

Bella brought me from my thoughts then, cautious at the open aggression on my face. I did not answer her questions right away, more for the fact that I could little understand myself then explain my confused emotions to a hormonally confused child. I would need time and reflection to understand; something that was all but impossible with my Jazz watching me like a hawk.

In fact, save for the afternoons that I spent at the Swan residence where Edward accompanied me, Jasper never left me alone. This was getting bothersome for the both of us, because vampires were territorial when they hunted, and having Jasper at my back at all times during a hunt was dangerous for the both of us when my instincts kicked in. My irritation at him was all the stronger when I noticed that with each hunt Jasper was taking us further and further away from the Cullen/Quileute territory line.

Why Jasper seemed to think that I needed protecting from Jacob Black and the Quileute pack was beyond me, for I had no intention of crossing the border between Forks and La Push now that I knew that the wolves had returned. Besides, Carlisle made it his mission to educate us on how dangerous a pack of shape-shifters could be for us. Not only were they faster than us, but their teeth could cut into our bodies, and there was enough of them to separate and destroy us one by one.

I spent a lot of time at the Swan's, irritated as I was at Jasper and wanting time away from his hovering. I knew Edward knew of my reasons, and had some theory about my personal problems, but was being stingy and withholding information. Moreover, I knew that he knew that I knew this. The problem was, if I began demanding answers from him it would all but admit that there was a problem between Jasper and I, and that its name was Jacob Black.

I was thankful for Bella's ignorance of my plight. As observant as Bella could be, she tended to hyper-focus on Edward to such an existent that she ignored pretty much everything else. However, I did not mind Bella ignoring me. Because, so long as Bella was ignoring me I didn't have to admit my problems, especially when the only other thing Bella obsessed over as much as she did Edward was Jacob bloody Black himself.

No, I was not ready to confront that monster.

In the end, the only person I confided in about my strange reactions was Charlie, who had been unusually forgiving and understanding, even with the explanation that my fight with Jacob had not only hurt his daughter but broke his kitchen window when "I" threw a pan at Jacob. Of course, when discussing the supernatural with Charlie I had to give him the cliff notes, and it was not very satisfying when Charlie merely shook his head amusedly and murmured about "kids". Despite my prompting for an explanation, Charlie refused to answer, which annoyed me more then I cared to admit. Of course, I could not even ask Edward to read Charlie's mind, because the whole reason why I even decided to talk to Charlie in the first place was that Edward could not understand his thoughts, and could only "hear" his emotions.

Eventually, my life settled back into its usual routine, if broken up by Bella's happy presence. I was thankful for this. School was much more bearable with a human's perspective – and seeing Bella move through her one and only human life was such a breath of fresh air that none of us, Carlisle included, knew what to do with ourselves around her.

However, I could not know that everything was about to change…again.

XXX

I sighed, hearing the quiet in the house broken once more by Bella's giggles. Every few seconds she would look up from her homework and lightly bump her cast-covered arm against Edward's hand, something that made my brother smile fondly. In fact, it was such a peaceful, comforting action that I felt the anxiousness in my mind slowly release, smiling at the sight of them enjoying themselves.

They had come a long way from the strained, hopeful atmosphere that had persisted around them that first week that Edward had returned. From the visions that I had seen it was all because of the fact that Edward finally managed to get his head together and convince Bella how much she meant to him – and the lengths that he would go to protect her.

Still, it was not all peaceful.

Despite the happy and idyllic scene that I now bore witness to playing out between Bella and Edward, I was not hopeful for any immediate resolution to my own personal issues. With each day my own irritation with Jasper was growing, broken up by the bursts of love and affection that I felt for him that couldn't be drowned by his over protective nature. I knew there were reasons for his reactions, knew that Jasper was as effected by his life from before our meeting as he was by his life after. However, as charming as his nature as a confederate soldier and a gentleman could be, there was times, like now, where I wanted to hit him.

I was not a fragile wallflower of a girl that he had to dance around and package in foam to keep from breaking – in fact, I was probably the third best fighter in the whole family next to Edward and Jasper. My only real problem with fighting was that I relied too heavily on my extra-sensory abilities and not enough on skill. This was the same problem that Edward had. Compared to Jasper, we were rookies.

I did not like feeling angry at Jasper at all, so I kept my annoyance to myself, hinting at Edward to keep his mouth to himself so that Jasper would not find out that he was seriously pissing me off with his overbearing attitude. I knew that Edward wanted to say something, but that he would respect my wishes until I was ready to confront Jasper on these fronts. I was thankful that Bella took up most of his attention, preventing him from prompting me into talking to Jasper at all hours of the day. Instead, he had to wait until nightfall before he could begin, and that was only until he felt that a lengthy amount of time had passed that he could safely return to the Swan's Residence to watch Bella sleep.


End file.
